9 Nov 2009

The pit and the Pendulum:

The Pit and the Pendulum was E.A. Poe's work, eritten in response to the war in Toledo, in Spain, I had that in mind. Carvings, drawings on the dungeon wallsFinal solution of the composition.preparatory drawinga concept of the pendulum

Another work also for the story "The pit and the Pendulum". It's a place where the character were before he found himself in the dungeon. He was in a room where exaggerated figures - the judges were. Their sable draperies were waving imperceptibly , wrapping the room. There were 7 candles on the table as well.The Judge.Few examples of the composition. To me,the best one is the right one,above.

Lots of thoughtful developmental work here - and two styles being developed; the first, for The Fall of the House of Usher - being more 'Caligari-meets-Coraline' and The Pit & The Pendulum more 'real world'. I don't see this as an issue, as you're working from two separate texts; it will be interesting then, to see how you resolve the interior of the Usher house, when you're using such a strong visual style for the exterior... Currently, you're exploring lots of components - the drawings on the walls, the pendulum, the pit, the chamber with the curtains... I look forward to seeing how you combine or edit your ideas for the final image; any thoughts as to how you're going to accomplish it yet? Remember, you can depart from the internal logic of the book if, in filmic or visual terms, the logic doesn't translate dynamically - perhaps you might think of opening out Poe's architecture a little to accommodate more of your world?

There is something over-the-top, melodramatic and theatrical about Poe's work - something feverish - I think his stuff can take a lot of stylisation and artistic liberty, so I'd continue to push the 'strong flavour' of the Usher House - would it work for the Pendulum too? Just a thought...

Please see second comment for general advice re. the written assignment

Some general structural advice regarding framing your essay in the more general context of ‘production design’ – by way of introduction to your specific case-study (i.e. the movie or game of choice), you’ll need to demonstrate your understanding of the purpose of production design/designers in enshrining certain ‘narrative values’ within the look of the production; you should discuss the general aims/objectives/definitions of production design – see below:

“Before designing anything, the designer develops a "design concept," an overarching metaphor for the film's appearance that governs individual choices. This "concept" may or may not be established in conjunction with the director. Once settled upon, however, it structures all decisions made, helping the art staff to give an individual film visual distinction.”Read more: http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Production-Design.html#ixzz0WRjZ6wTX

You’ll find alternative definitions that you may want to include, but your following analysis of your chosen exemplar should be an in-depth discussion of that ‘overarching metaphor’ that organizes all the various components of the production’s design; you need to be looking for recurring motifs, colour values, use of space, set-design etc. that, collectively, create ‘the look’ and be able to talk insightfully about the narrative contribution of ‘the look’ – i.e. – how does it assist in the audience’s understanding of the narrative or thematic framework. IMPORTANT; try and think of your written assignments as ‘complete worlds’ – i.e., that they must contain all information necessary for your reader to follow your discussion coherently. Never presume prior knowledge on the behalf of your reader; do not, for instance, presume that your reader understands or is familiar with ‘Production Design’ – you always need to define your terms WITHIN the essay; likewise with films and games; give their release date, their director etc. Use footnotes to give definitions or information that would otherwise interrupt flow of argument; for instance, if you don’t want to pause rhythm of sentence by giving reader additional information about a particular artist or designer, use a footnote to put this data into the ‘margins’ of the discussion. On Word, goto to Insert and then ‘Footnote’ to install footnote at bottom of page.

AVOID DESCRIPTION – obviously, you will need to give some plot details to contextualise the scenes you want to discuss, but I don’t want a blow-by-blow account of the game/film; give a brief précis and get on with the ANALYSIS.

Below is a list of useful websites; use them in addition to other sources of reference (books, docs, making ofs) to SUPPORT your observations; you need to gather EVIDENCE to corroborate with your analysis. GENERIC observations (i.e. ‘stating the bloody obvious’) are to be avoided at all costs. Tell me something I DON’T know!

yes! That's accurately what I was thinking! to shift the design of the house, sometimes forgetting the descriptions that I read in the book. Because, as I noticed so far, my style is kind a graphical ( I don't know if I described it good) .And the other thing. I decided to depict 1.The exterior of the house of Usher2. the dungeon in "the Pit and the Pendulum"3. The room in "The Pit and the Pendulum".

And I didn't chose to produce the concept of the interior of the Haus of Usher.